A Pitt basketball player had to be tasered outside a Strip District nightclub early this morning after he attempted to grab a police officer's weapon.

Levance Fields was charged with one count each of aggravated assault, disarming a police officer, disorderly conduct and public drunkeness.

The incident took place at 1:50 a.m. at Pure nightclub. According to a police affadavit, an officer working an off-duty detail at Pure spotted Mr. Fields yelling at another police officer. The police officer approached Mr. Fields and asked him to stop yelling and using offensive language.

Mr. Fields then went into the street and began arguing with an unknown black male. The officer approached Mr. Fields again and repeated his request that he stop yelling and using offensive language, at which time Mr. Fields cursed at the officer and struck him in the chest.

Mr. Fields then grabbed at the officer's weapon. The officer pushed him away, and a security officer shot Mr. Fields in the chest with a taser.

Mr. Fields, 20, was taken to Mercy Hospital before being locked up in the Allegheny County Jail.

Mr. Fields, a 5-foot-10, 195-pound native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and a starter at point guard since his freshman season, led Pitt in assists last season and was the team's fourth-leading scorer with 9.2 points per game.